Authoritative source of information on Psychological Operations (PSYOP) or as it is now called Military Information Support Operations (MISO). Written by a retired senior Army Officer and former Honorary Colonel of the PSYOP Regiment.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

SOF Week 2010: The Only PSYOP is Being Done By Vendors

The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) kicked off its annual SOFIC Conference in Tampa on June 15, 2010. There were over 300 vendors exhibiting and exhibit staffers out numbered paying attendees to the parallel Small Business session on Tuesday morning.

Naturally the exhibits leaned heavily on lethality, protecting and transporting the force. Speakers were all focused on acquisition as the target audience was as much the vendors as it was the special operators who drifted in after lunch.

Exhibitors also included Special Forces from the United Arab Emirates as well as a contingent from the Dubai tourist bureau, but alas not one exhibit that dealt with PSYOP or even Civil Affairs.

Of course this was not a surprise to anyone – least of all me. The take away for me is that PSYOP lacks more than a single, unifying association, it lacks a business oriented association whose purpose is to support the PSYOP community by harnessing marketing dollars of the vendors that supply it.

PSYOP equipment and services are likely to account for a hefty business, but it is difficult to quantify it all. From a payroll perspective the Army alone as 3 PSYOP Groups with a total manning of 4,000 people. SOCOM PSYOP purchases are buried in the C4 (Command, Control, Communications & Computers) Program Office and must account for $100 million or more annually. The Army Special Operations (ASOC) budget for PSYOP equipment and services is likewise non-trivial, yet there is no trade association to catalyst the market or benefit from vendor dollars.

The closest thing to a trade event for PSYOP is Regimental Week, which heretofore has been the exclusive province of the 4th POG. The jungle drums are saying that the next PSYOP week will be in October 2010 at Fort Bragg. Hopefully the POGs, the JMISC are working together to insure an event that reflects and involves the entire community. Continued lack of community unity will result in PSYOP continuing to be the SOF step child.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Larry,

What ever happened to the World Wide PSYOP Conference? Has Regimental Week replaced this? Last WWPC I remember was two or three years ago.R/ChuckChuck DoigPSYOP LeadCommunity of Knowledge and PracticeIO Technology Alliance23d IO Squadron

The World Wide PSYOP Conference used to be held along with a USACAPOC CDR's Conference. At that time all of the POGs had the same chain of Command. As you know, the 2nd and 7th now fall under the USAR Chain while the 4th is under ASOC.

Regimental Week has more less replaced the Conference. However, the tenor and tone are much different. Regimental Week is much more by the soldiers for the soldiers.

Unfortunately the last Regimental weeks were exclusively 4th POG affairs. Hopefully the next one will involve more of the total community.